RE: THG MyProtein Meals in Iceland Stores2 Mar 2023 12:52
Then an update from Matt Mouldings Linkedin account 28/2
"Last week we hit a nice milestone in our Myprotein x Iceland Foods partnership. Within a few weeks of launch, over 1m Myprotein frozen meals have been sold, representing over £5m of Sales. Performance could have been even better, with supply struggling to keep up with demand.
In early 2011 we bought a small brand called Myprotein. It had annual sales of c£20m, selling large bags of protein in a few key flavours, to hardcore gym-going young men in the U.K.. It's fair to say many laughed at us paying £58m for the brand (picture in this post is from the time of the deal).
12 years on, Myprotein is now the World’s No1 Nutrition brand, having grown revenues by c35 fold.
Since day 1, our focus has been to build Myprotein into a truly global lifestyle brand, appealing to men and women all over the world. It’s a tough journey. Brand building is far from easy. Anyone who says otherwise is disingenuous.
To manage “Brand Stretch”, we launched Myvitamins, Myvegan and MP activewear as sub-brands. We built in-house manufacturing in key markets, allowing the launch of quality new products faster than competitors. There are obvious cost savings too.
To maximise payback on these investments, Myprotein also produces products for other brands, even brands like Mars. This is common at THG, selling our expertise to 3rd parties. THG Ingenuity was created on this principle. Many wouldn’t know that THG Beauty makes countless products for well-known global Beauty brands, both from the UK, but also in the US.
This is how we’ve scaled THG through the years. We see an opportunity, invest in it, then sell the expertise to get faster payback. This principle of partnerships is everywhere at THG.
Myprotein x Iceland is just another example. We’ve known the opportunity in frozen foods for years. But it’s a complex category to make work online. And so, we’ve looked to solve this through partnerships.
Like THG, Iceland has many layers to its business model. It’s the UK’s leading frozen food specialist, with Sales of c£4bn pa, including c£1bn online. Each year Iceland has a clean sweep of industry awards for the success of its licensing partnerships. It even has a division selling frozen foods to other major grocers. So similar to THG....
The Myprotein team sign off on range, nutritional content, taste, design and packaging, while Iceland takes care of the rest. The initial range focuses on frozen meals, with Pizza and Ice Cream ranges launching in April. Through the partnership we reach some overseas markets, and where there are gaps, we will look to establish similar partnerships.
It’s early days, but everyone is benefitting so far. Myprotein customers are accessing a whole new category of exciting products. Iceland is attracting a very different customer, helping expand their all-important footfall. THG is continuing to build on the Myprotein brand journey."
Sign In
Follow the stocks
